Collagen is used as an implant material to replace or augment hard or soft connective tissue, such as skin, tendons, cartilage, and bone. Some implants are formed as solid, flexible, or deformable collagen masses cross-linked with chemical agents, radiation, or other means to improve mechanical properties, decrease the chance of an immunogenic response, and/or to manage the resorption rate, or to improve the mechanical properties.
Collagen-based medical implants for use in humans generally have been of a non-human origin, i.e., xenogenic. A problem with the use of xenogenic tissue as a starting material when generating medical implants is that the tissue may be contaminated with viruses or prions. For example, products using bovine sourced tissue have the potential for transmitting BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy).
Another problem with the use of xenogenic tissue is the potential for inflammation responses, hematomas, adhesions, and rejection after implantation. This is because xenogenic collagen and telopeptides can include antigens and other constituents that can initiate an immunogenic response in humans. Additionally, a certain proportion of patients can develop allergic reactions to implanted xenogeneic materials.
Thus, there is a need for methods to isolate collagen fiber and/or thread base materials for products made from the collagen fiber and/or thread base materials that are less likely to produce an immunogenic response.